I find this conversation absolutely fascinating! I'm in the middle of a very interesting book called, Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults by James T. Webb et al. (the subtitle is "ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, Depression, and Other Disorders.") There is a 10 page discussion about the primary diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Disorder and the similarities between Asperger's Disorder and Gifted Behaviors. I got the book through an interlibrary loan, and highly recommend it. (at least what little of it I have read!)

I'm one of those moms who continually picks up and reads all of the books I can find on Asperger's, trying to find something that explains my son. He has never flapped his arms or done repetitive behaviors, although he would occasionally bang his head against things when he was really small. We found out that he had several food allergies (wheat, corn, dairy, soy, and eggs) and those behavior stopped when we adjusted his diet. This is very interesting since some autistic kids improve on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet. Oh and BTW, we had blood work done for food allergies, and my son always came back as negative. They seem to have a high incidence of false negatives. I have a really interesting article called "In the Dark about Corn Allergy" from the Living Without Magazine 2004. (unfortunately their web site only goes back to 2005). It explains how food allergies strongly effect kid's behavior. They don't always break out in bump or hives, or wheeze when they have an allergy. Corn in particular seems to make my son aggressive and angry, to the point where he lashes out at the world. Keep him away from corn (which is in everything... toothpaste, baking powder, anything with an adhesive like tape, most art supplies at school, and even toilet paper!) and he is as happy and content as can be.

He is an only child who continually has his nose pressed against a window, looking for someone outside to play with. But then he doesn't seem to fit in with the neighborhood kids. They are more inclined to ride their bikes or scooter up and down the driveways and not use their imagination. My son gets bored with sports and would rather invent complex stories and imaginative games. It makes for a very lonely childhood. The school psychologist thought that he had "sensory seeking behaviors", so I am intrigued by the comment about sensory integration disorder. Any one have any more info on this?

I also wanted to point out that I believe there is a wide range of behaviors in this world that can not be placed in any one category, perhaps because there are so few numbers in the population that exhibit them. My DH and I both exhibit a characteristic or two of Aspys, or are we just gifted, mathematically inclined adults who happen to be introverted or shy? What makes one gifted person highly social and other one socially inept? How do you separate out the personality traits of a fidgety, squirmy gifted kid and one who is ADHD. And what in the world do you do when your fidgety, squirmy, gifted kid might also be ADHD or an Aspy? It is hard enough trying to find out what to do when your kid is just highly gifted!!

I'm new to all of this and love to hear about the characteristics of all the gifted kids. I am learning so much from you. Hope the book tidbit and the food allergy comment help.

ebeth




Mom to DS12 and DD3